Happy rabbits!

[Joe n TN]

My basil grew like crazy this year and then quickly went to seed when the heat wave hit. It re-seeded itself and now I have a HUGE patch of basil growing in one of my beds.

I just got done getting lettuce for a salad and fed the old leaves and fresh basil to the rabbits. They each got a little lettuce and a handful of fresh basil leaves. Needless to say, I have 5 very happy rabbits right now!

Joe

[Comrad]

Very nice.

My local supermarket always has a lot of lettuce leaves that have been removed from the plants for display in a produce bin. As long as I am buying some milk or a few vegies I can't grow, they don't have a problem with me taking them. I mostly give them to my chickens, but, I give a little to my rabbits as well. I've heard that lettuce isn't a great food for them due to its high water content, it can cause stomach upsets for them, and that there is little nutrients that they can get from lettuce. Does anyone know anything about this? I like the idea of being able to feed them more green waste instead of rabbit pellets which are costing me money.

[WayneH]

I'm not a food or dietary expert by any stretch of the imagination, so take my reply with a grain of salt.

I've always heard that iceburg lettuce is pretty useless as far as nutrition goes, but I haven't heard of it causing stomach problems in rabbits.
The vet that I take my animals to says that plants in the cabbage family are pretty hard on rodents, so they should be use as a treat. (thumb size chunk of broccoli stump, half a cabbage core, etc.)

I've heard that most types of lettuce (other than iceburg) have decent nutritional value, but still not the best in the leafy green vegetable world.

[Joe n TN]

Wayne, you're 100% right about the iceberg, it is worthless nutritionally for any animal (including humans) and really shouldn't be fed to rabbits. 

I don't grow iceberg.  The darker green lettuce, red lettuce and other leafy greens are much more nutritious (so I grow them) and never give the rabbits more than a small handful.  Same thing with brasicas, they get 1-2 palm sized cabbage leaves maybe 2-3 times a week, never feed brasicas in abundance.

All that being said my goal is to feed my rabbits as varied a diet as possible, they are grazers in the wild, so they get a complete and nutritious diet so I get to eat healthy, nutritious meat.  They eat 1/2-3/4 of their diet in pellets, depending on the time of year and the rest is quality hay, grasses, weeds, lots of garden trimmings and black oil sunflower seeds.

Joe